CAHRC works to employ new Canadians in the ag sectorFriday, February 5, 2016

Opportunities for Attracting Non-traditional Workers to Agriculture and Agri-Food

Ottawa, ON – The Canadian Agricultural Human Resource Council (CAHRC) is working to employ new Canadians in the agriculture sector.

“There are limitless opportunities in agriculture and agri-food today,” explains Portia MacDonald-Dewhirst, Executive Director of CAHRC. “We are working with our stakeholders through our projects and research to grow the agricultural workforce for Canada including initiatives to employ new Canadians and attract groups currently under-represented in the agricultural workforce.”

To facilitate industry dialogue and collaboration on addressing agricultural workforce issues, CAHRC is inviting agriculture leaders, farmers, industry and government officials to attend the ‘Growing the AgriWorkforce Summit’ in Winnipeg in March 14-16. For more information on the summit visit www.cahrc-ccrha.ca.

CAHRC’s Labour Market Information research has identified a leading barrier to agricultural employment as being employment services agencies that do not consider placing job-seekers in the agricultural sector because the agencies are not familiar with the industry and don’t know or understand the skills needed. Other barriers to employment are a lack of transportation in rural areas and language barriers. Over 1,400 industry stakeholders have participated in surveys, interviews, and focus groups to inform this research.

In support of breaking these barriers, a CAHRC-led pilot project is pairing the clientele of the Calgary Catholic Immigrant Society with employers in the area from now through to autumn 2016 to establish improved connections between new Canadians and available jobs in agriculture.

CAHRC also leads the implementation of the Canadian Agriculture and Agri-Food Workforce Action Plan (WAP) which is designed to improve access to a qualified supply of workers. Support for the Plan continues to grow with over 67 Implementation Partners across all sectors and commodities, with 14 Contributing Partners supporting the ongoing research efforts. The WAP is an agriculture and agri-food jobs and growth strategy that is guided by Canada’s national Agriculture and Agri-Food Labour Task Force, a strategic advisory group to CAHRC. The WAP identifies the issues and offers solutions to address the critical and pervasive shortage of workers in the agriculture and agri-food sector.

Keystone Agriculture Producers (KAP), the largest farm policy group in Manitoba, is working with CAHRC on foundational research that will provide better agriculture worker training.

"KAP supports the Workforce Action Plan and its recommendation for a streamlined agriculture and agri-food workforce program,” said KAP president Dan Mazier. “The plan offers short-term solutions to our labour shortage, including addressing concerns about the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, as well as medium and long-term solutions. I urge the federal government to adopt the recommendations contained in the plan as it develops its policies.”

“We are very pleased to support the Canadian Agriculture and Agri-Food Workforce Action Plan. Its comprehensive strategy will help pork producers and processors access the workers they need to be competitive,” says Rick Bergmann, Canadian Pork Council Chair. “Working with CAHRC and through many ongoing industry recruitment activities, Canadian producers and processors are doing everything they can to recruit Canadian workers. Our industry is also reaching out to incoming refugees. When Canadians cannot be found, employers need a pathway to permanent residency for our experienced workers through the federal Express Entry Program and through provincial immigration streams. Our trained livestock workers and butchers are too valuable for Canada’s food production system to lose.”

"About 95 per cent of Canada’s seed corn is grown in southern Ontario and it is seasonally intensive work," explains Ron Meulemeester, Chair, Seed Corn Growers of Ontario’s Labour Task Force Committee. "Over 4,000 workers are needed in a short two to three week time period for corn detasseling. In order for seed corn growers to meet Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s requirements and to avoid devastating losses to seed corn crops, access to seasonal workers is a must - worker shortages are not an option."

The Canadian Agricultural Human Resource Council (CAHRC) is a national, non-profit organization focused on addressing human resource issues facing agricultural businesses across Canada. Industry participation is the cornerstone of CAHRC, working with agriculture industry leaders, governments and educational stakeholders to research develop and communicate solutions to the challenges in employment and skills development in the agriculture industry. CAHRC leads collaborative implementation efforts in support of the Canadian Agriculture and Agri-Food Workforce Action Plan for the sector. For more information visit www.cahrc-ccrha.ca.

The PMRA has conducted a preliminary pollinator risk assessment for imidacloprid based on currently available data. The full document is now available. Interested parties are encouraged to provide comments and suggestions by 18 March 2016.

Three documents pertaining to the re-evaluation of the neonicotinoid insecticides have been published to the Pesticides and Pest Management portion of Health Canada’s website. See info below from the RSS feeds:

As part of the Re-evaluation of the Neonicotinoid Insecticides, Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) has conducted an assessment of the value of clothianidin, imidacloprid and thiamethoxam when used to treat corn and soybean seed.

This document provides a status update on the pollinator risk assessments of clothianidin, imidacloprid, and thiamethoxam. The PMRA and USEPA OPP, as the federal regulators of pesticides in Canada and the United States, respectively, are working together to protect bees and other pollinators from pesticide exposure.

The PMRA has conducted a preliminary pollinator risk assessment for imidacloprid based on currently available data. Interested parties are encouraged to provide comments and suggestions by 18 March 2016.

Ottawa, ON-- The Canadian Agricultural Human Resource Council (CAHRC) is currently engaged in four research initiatives that brings a multitude of stakeholders together to review issues and identify solutions to the critical labour challenges facing the agricultural industry.

The first project is the Labour Market Information (LMI): Agricultural Supply and Demand Forecast Model. This three-year project defines a labour market information supply and demand model that will provide an overview of the current agricultural labour market and forecast labour supply and demand, provincially, nationally and by commodity. The project identifies labour and skill gaps, and investigates opportunities and barriers to participation among population groups that have been traditionally under-represented in the agricultural workforce (e.g. Aboriginal peoples, new Canadians, older workers).

The Conference Board of Canada is working with the CAHRC research team to clarify Canada’s agricultural labour market situation and future requirements. This research is guided by 55 active industry advisors. Over 1,100 industry stakeholders have participated in interviews, focus groups and surveys to inform this research, with plans to gather further stakeholder input and perspectives through various webinars. Final LMI research products will be disseminated in the fall of 2016.

The second project is the National Agricultural Occupational Framework (NAOF) and Labour Market Support. This project is clarifying a variety of much needed information about core jobs in agriculture and leveraging that information to build meaningful support tools to assist the sector to address its labour requirements and ensure the health and sustainability of Canada’s agricultural industry. It is an in-depth study of the exact jobs and skills involved in today’s agricultural workforce.

Extensive progress has been made in developing the NAOF, an important foundational element that defines the work conducted in Canada’s modern agricultural industry. Over 70 industry leaders are guiding this effort to ensure accuracy and the development of meaningful tools and resources to support career awareness, selection, training, performance management, and business planning for the sector. To date, 20 National Occupational Standards have been developed with input from 270 industry stakeholders for the pork, sheep, aquaculture, beef and poultry commodities. The development of job seeker, employee, educational and employer support tools are underway. Enhancements are being made to the online learning resource for the industry, AgriTalent. The development of a National Agricultural Job Board with commodity specific and regional components is also ongoing with the launch of a pilot planned for the fall of 2015.

The third project is the Agriculture and Agri-Food Workforce Action Plan (WAP). The WAP was developed with extensive research over the last three years by an industry-led Labour Task Force (LTF) made up of representatives from all twelve of the Agriculture and Agri-Food Value Chain Roundtables. The LTF functions as a solution-oriented forum that examines issues of agriculture and agri-food labour management and shortages. The WAP initiative is being led by the Council to ensure implementation of documented recommendations of the LTF.

To date, 60 organizations are confirmed as Implementation Partners lending support, credibility and a sense of urgency to addressing labour issues for the industry. Recent research has focused on clarifying the impacts of labour shortage on competitiveness across all commodities and regions of the agriculture and agri-food sector. This has developed into a review of issues and solutions regarding the industry’s need for continued access to non-domestic agriculture workers with findings documented in an update to the WAP. Industry guidance for this initiative is provided through the Labour Task Force, the Policy and Programs Working Group, and the Value Chain Roundtables for each commodity. This stakeholder involvement is enhancing CAHRC’s Labour Market Intelligence function. WAP’s leadership will continue to communicate effective short, medium and longer term solutions to these and other agriculture labour issues.The final initiative is Supporting the Advancement of Women in Agriculture (SAWA). This project examines and addresses critical barriers to advancement facing women in the industry. The purpose of this initiative is to engage women and stakeholders within the agriculture community to develop and implement a strategic program to support improved access to leadership opportunities and strengthen business success for women working in agriculture.

The Council recently launched this research project with an announcement made during the Advancing Women in Agriculture Conference in Calgary on April 7, 2015, followed by a media release, both of which generated extensive interest. Project partners and industry stakeholder are being gathered to populate Advisory Groups and Working Groups to support the initiative. The research exploring the issues is now underway and will be ongoing until 2017.

“Before you can fix a problem you have to know exactly what your problem is,” explains Mark Wales, Chair of CAHRC. “This research is going to answer that key question for Canada’s agricultural labour situation, and give direction to the Council in the development of the corrective policies, training and other actions.”

For more information on these and other research initiatives, visit CAHRC at www.cahrc-ccrha.ca.

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The Canadian Agricultural Human Resource Council works with industry leaders, governments and educational stakeholders to research, develop and communicate solutions to the challenges in employment and skills development in primary agriculture. The Council now leads collaborative implementation efforts in support of the national Workforce Action Plan for the agriculture and agri-food sector.For more information visit www.cahrc-ccrha.ca.

The Fred Rathje trophy is awarded annually to: "an individual who has made a significant positive contribution of innovative, creative and effective effort for the betterment of the Canadian honey bee industry".
The award is presented a the Annual General Meeting of the CHC this year in Saskatoon in early December 2015
The Willy Baumgartner Memorial Award is bestowed to a member of the beekeeping community who may not be a beekeeper but, has made an outstanding contribution to support Canadian beekeeping.
Willy promoted integrated management approaches to beekeeping and his business, Medivet Pharmaceuticals donated tens of thousands of dollars to research – all without any expectations or restrictions.

The Government of Canada held a public consultation on Canada’s 2012 Proposed Domestic Policy on the Management of Low-Level Presence (LLP) of Genetically-Modified Crops in Imports and its Associated Implementation Framework from November 6, 2012 to January 19, 2013.

Feedback received through this consultation has led to a number of changes to the 2012 draft LLP policy and implementation framework (see www.agr.gc.ca/llp or new revised draft).

To facilitate the understanding of the policy development process, the revised draft LLP policy and implementation framework includes a preamble that describes changes made to the 2012 policy proposal and lists the outstanding policy and implementation issues.

Resolving these outstanding complex issues will require further analysis and work with stakeholders and international partners. A decision regarding when to implement the policy will take place once the policy is finalized, and will take into account benefits and potential risks.

Comments on this revised draft policy and implementation framework may be sent to LLP-PFC@agr.gc.ca

Health Canada has revised the requirement to use a dust-reducing fluency agent to help reduce seed dust during planting corn and soybean seed treated with neonicotinoid insecticides to allow for the use of new dust-reducing fluency agents. Talc and graphite are still not permitted to be used as a seed flow lubricant for corn or soybean seed treated with these insecticides.

Best Management Practices reduce the risk to bees and other insect pollinators from exposure to dust from treated seed. These practices include a requirement for the use of a dust-reducing fluency agent when using a seed flow lubricant in planting corn and soybean seed treated with neonicotinoid insecticides. Talc and graphite are still not permitted to be used as a seed flow lubricant for corn or soybean seed treated with these insecticides.

On December 19, 2014, Canada was informed that Japan refused entry to a shipment of honey from Alberta due to the voluntary attestation that the level of residues for tylosin, one of four different antibiotics on the certificate of analysis accompanying the shipment, was below 0.001 ppm. In the absence of an approved Maximum Residue Limit (MRL) specifically for honey, Japan is imposing a zero tolerance for the presence of this antibiotic residue in honey.

We have since determined that Japan notified the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in July 2013 of revisions to the standards for foods and food additives for two agricultural chemicals, including tylosin. However, although Japan listed honey as a product covered under WTO notification No. 319, in the absence of a Codex MRL, Canada did not provide comments regarding tylosin.

We are aware that Health Canada (HC) is in the process of establishing an MRL of 0.2 ppm for tylosin in honey. The process is expected to be concluded in 2015, following consultations in 2014. HC has indicated that they are willing to share scientific findings with Japanese officials to assist them in adopting Canada’s proposed MRL. The Market Access Secretariat (MAS) will initiate the request for the Japanese authorities to adopt Canada’s MRL for tylosin in honey, once adopted domestically. However, this may not be an expeditious process.

In the meantime, we recommend that all Canadian honey exports to Japan be free from tylosin, given that any detectable levels of this veterinary drug in a shipment will likely result in refused entry. Shipments where tylosin is declared on the certificate of analysis should be re-directed to other markets.

We will keep you appraised as the file evolves. Should you have additional questions, contact us via email at: mas-sam@agr.gc.ca

The report provides a roadmap of nine recommendations the committee believes are necessary to improve bee health. Among them, the Committee is calling on the Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) to keep monitoring pollinator mortality during the spring of 2015 to assess whether the protective measures adopted for the 2014 planting season were efficient. Furthermore, the Committee is recommending the PMRA conclude, without delay, its re-evaluation of neonicotinoid insecticides based on evidence and sound scientific principles with an objective of protecting the health of bees.

“Given the importance of bees to the environment and food production in Canada, our Senate Committee strongly believes in the continued collaboration between the federal government, stakeholders and the provinces to work on measures to improve pollinator health, such as the Bee Health Forum, the National Bee Farm-Level Biosecurity Standard, and the re-evaluation of three neonicotinoid pesticides.”

Senator Percy Mockler, Committee Chair

“Given the current duration of some conditionally registered neonic insecticdes, the Committee believes that the duration of this conditional registration should be reduced. It is necessary that the Pest Management Regulatory Agency accelerate its conditional registration process in order to reduce the current number of conditional registrations granted to neonicotinoid active ingredients.”

Senator Claudette Tardif, Committee Deputy Chair

Summary of report recommendations

Enabling bee packages importation from foreign jurisdictions such as the United States while keeping in mind the importance of improving the inspection of imported honey bee packages.

Monitoring bee health status, across the country, through the implementation of the bee health surveillance project on a continuous basis, rather than a four-year period.

Accelerating the implementation of the National Bee Farm-Level Biosecurity Standard in hives.

Reducing the current number of conditional registrations granted to neonic active ingredients.

Ensuring, through the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development audits, that the PMRA is working on enhancing its pesticide registration process.

Improving access to new pesticides which could be safely used in beehives.

The PMRA keeps monitoring bee mortality and concludes, without delay, its re-evaluation of the three neonic insecticides.

Increasing the amount and the duration of research funding targeting pollinator health.

Improving management practices of beekeepers and growers while minimizing the use of chemical products and ensuring the availability of untreated seeds.

Improving pollinator habitat in order to achieve floral diversity

Quick Facts

During the study that began in November 2013, the Committee heard from 85 witnesses. Witnesses included officials from the federal and provincial governments of Canada, the European Union and Australia, as well as representatives from industry associations, civil society, and academia.

Government of Canada’s Federal Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance and UseFriday, April 10, 2015

I am pleased to inform you of the release of the Government of Canada’s Federal Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance and Use, and the first integrated Canadian Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance System (CARSS) report.

The Action Plan builds on the previously released Federal Framework for Action on Antimicrobial Resistance and outlines concrete Government of Canada actions to prevent, limit and control the emergence and spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Partners in this Action Plan include the Public Health Agency of Canada, Health Canada, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Industry Canada and the National Research Council.

Activities are described under the four actions in the surveillance, stewardship and innovation areas of focus. In addition, a new section outlines the Government of Canada’s commitment to a leadership role both domestically and internationally.

The Action Plan is intended to ensure that all partners and stakeholders are aware of Government of Canada actions in this area and will be used to facilitate a dialogue with key partners in developing comprehensive and coordinate approaches to address AMR in Canada.

As announced in the Federal Framework, the Public Health Agency is establishing CARSS, a new, integrated antimicrobial use and resistance surveillance system which pulls together and analyzes information from existing Agency surveillance systems. The CARSS report is the first result of this new surveillance approach, providing an integrated analysis of existing human and animal data.

It is designed to provide all stakeholders with an enhanced ability to monitor ongoing public health issues, identify emerging issues, and protect the health of Canadians.

CARSS will still rely on data from its existing Canadian Nosocomial Infection Surveillance Program (CNISP), the Canadian Integrated Program for Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance (CIPARS) and other relevant systems, but will be the focal point for the integration and evolution of the Agency’s surveillance programs. It will amalgamate available antimicrobial resistance data, and clearly articulate and track antimicrobial resistance at a national level. Future CARSS activities and reports will consider stakeholder feedback on this first report.

Below are the web links to the Federal Action Plan and the first integrated CARSS report.

The Canadian Honey Council is proud to be a member of the Honey Bee Health Coalition, a coalition of more than 30 organizations and agencies from across food, agriculture, government and conservation working to improve the health of honey bees in North America. The Coalition recently released its Bee Healthy Roadmap, a roadmap to improve honey bee health through collective action that will accomplish more than any one group can achieve on its own.
Facing unacceptable declines in honey bee health, the Coalition’s Bee Healthy Roadmap lays out specific priorities and actions that it will take to reverse these declines and improve the health of honey bees and other pollinators. The Bee Healthy Roadmap identifies four priority areas that need immediate and consistent action from partners across the landscape. These include improving Hive Management, Forage & Nutrition, Crop Pest Management, and Cross-Industry Education, Outreach and Coordination.
The Roadmap also provides a framework for ongoing collaboration inviting anyone with a vested interest in honey bee health to work together to achieve its vision of Healthy Honey Bees, Healthy People, Healthy Planet.
To learn more about the Honey Bee Health Coalition and view the Bee Healthy Roadmap visit www.honeybeehealthcoalition.org or view the roadmap here: